Montana: The Last Best Place

kittredge's collection evades perfection only through inclusion of a number of less than outstanding tales and essays. these are pretty much identifiable by their first or second paragraphs though; it takes no great effort to just page forward to the next outstanding offering. the dream of montana is well woven here. the reality of montana, remarkably enough, is even better than the dream. my only real reservation about this book is that it is apt to draw a crowd: i would wish montana to remain as it is.

The Last Best Place is an anthology with incredible breadth and scope. It was put together over a three year period by a group of dedicated editors and researchers headed up by Annick Smith and William Kittredge. The goal was to identify and preserve Montanna's rich literary heritage ranging from the earliest Native American inhabitants and explorers to contemporary authors such as Rick Newby and Bill Hoagland.The size of the anthology is proof that it was a daunting if rewarding task. Over 1,000 pages long, it cannot be considered "light" reading, and yet the writing shines. There are sections from Lewis and Clark, Osborne Russell and James Audubon, (all early visitors to Montana), side by side with Native American stories and myths by the like of Jerome Fourstar, James White Calf and Pete Beaverhead( don't miss "Chickadees" as told to Frank Linderman by Pretty-shield, Medicine Woman). Here too you will find cowboys, settlers and wild west characters such as Mary MacLane who declared from a very early age, "I want Fame...Let me but make a beginning, let me but strike the world in a vulnerable spot, and I can take it by storm." There are essays, legends, journals, tall tales and poetry; tales of stunning beauty, adventure, disaster, brutality and vision. This is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who understands the importance of place and is fascinated by the literature that has evolved out of it.